Social Media

Friday morning's “Live! With Regis and Kelly” send-off special for Regis Philbin ignited a firestorm of online activity, helping it edge out all other 2011 morning talk show episodes as far as number of comments posted across social media websites.

Comments surpassed the 21,000 threshold for the farewell episode, according to data from Bluefin Labs. Online commentary peaked when co-host Kelly Ripa read her goodbye speech in which she tearfully said she'll miss walking 43 steps from her dressing room to the live studio every day with Philbin.

NBC's Today previously held the title for 2011's most social morning talk show for its Nov. 1 telecast that attracted 14,600 comments. That episode featured news about the death of U.S. troops in helicopter crash in Afghanistan as well as Kim Kardashian's divorce. In comparison, primetime shows tend to hover above morning talk shows for online comments. For example, Bluefin Labs data show American Idol and Dancing With the Stars both average 21,000 comments per episode, while True Blood averages 17,000 messages.

"Just looking at the word cloud for this episode, it's pretty clear how the audience felt about Regis," Bluefin Labs's Tom Thai told Mashable. "The vast majority in the uptick of comments about this episode was driven by Regis, not the show."

Look no further than the word cloud in the infographic below to notice that fans spilled their emotions in their comments. Of the popular terms and hashtags featured in the word cloud, these emotionally jam-packed terms made the top 15: miss, crying, love, sad and farewell. The graphic also depicts how online commenting — on Twitter, Facebook, blogs and other social sites — fluctuated Friday morning.

Are you saddened about Philbin's departure after 28 years as the show's leading man? Let us know below.

Regis Philbin Says Goodbye to Morning TV

Kelly Ripa

No words were needed from Regis Philbin's co-host, Kelly Ripa, to express how she felt about him hosting "Live! With Regis and Kelly" for the final time.

The 80-year-old has clocked 995,000 minutes in his 28 years as the show's leading man.

Leave your Regis tweets in the comments.

Regis and Kelly Official

Twitter was abuzz before, during and after the show, so much so that #RegisFarewell became a trending topic on Twitter.

NYC Mayor's Office

Early in the show, New York City Mayor Bloomberg gave Philbin, who is from the Bronx, a key to the city "on behalf of 8.4 million New Yorkers."

Tiffany

The show was filled with a star-studded crowd and montages, including one showing former famous guests impersonating Philbin.

Keith Pence

To celebrate his 28 years and 995,000 minutes clocked on air, performers sang a special version of "Seasons of Love."

Pat Tomasulo

Mary Greenfeder

Andrew Wright

ABC 20/20

Lindsey Spurgeon

Showbiz Tonight

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